Geno Smith to Giants would be a bad deal for both sides

Geno Smith to the Giants makes the least amount of sense for the quarterback. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

It's too timely a coincidence that the Giants had Geno Smith in for a visit the day before the start of Daylight Saving Time, and it was a good thing they didn't wait until Sunday, too.

With time springing forward one hour and the Giants' clocks permanently set five minutes fast in the spirit of Tom Coughlin, there is no telling when they could have expected Smith, who once blamed the confusing three-hour West Coast time difference for missing Jets team meetings in San Diego.

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An unfair cheap shot? Set your watch to this: Geno to the Giants doesn't make much sense for either party, maybe even less for Smith than for Big Blue.

From the Giants' point of view, Ben McAdoo is sending mixed messages when he cites "turnovers" as his biggest concern on offense and then entertains the idea of signing Smith, who has 35 touchdowns to 43 turnovers in 33 career games played through four seasons with the Jets.

Jerry Reese appears ready to replace backups Ryan Nassib and Josh Johnson, both of whom are now free agents, with Nassib the GM's 2013 fourth-round pick who had surgery on his throwing elbow at season's end.

But Smith also is coming off ACL surgery. So health is a concern, along with the baggage of embarrassing back page headlines he shoulders from making some poor decisions playing in the New York market.

Plus, if the Giants intend to draft a quarterback this April to succeed Eli Manning eventually, wouldn't they prefer to have a steadier veteran influence in the QB room tutoring the rookie?

Honestly, maybe they called the wrong ex-Jet. Ryan Fitzpatrick makes more sense as Manning's backup than Geno.

Geno to the Giants makes even less sense, however, for Smith, 26.

The Giants called the wrong ex-Jet. (Brad Penner/USA Today Sports)

The former Jets second-round pick out of West Virginia might have plenty memories he would like to forget from his time in Florham Park, but he always has had a strong arm and would love a second chance to play regularly in the NFL. So it would make a lot more sense for Smith to go to a situation in which he would, well, play.

Manning never misses games. Ever. He has made 199 consecutive regular-season starts. Smith can call Nassib if he wants to confirm: He will not play. Nassib threw 10 regular-season passes in four years.

Smith also seemingly would benefit most from a complete reset: Getting out of the harsh New York spotlight, away from the drama of forever being linked to former teammate IK Enemkpali's knockout punch, and into a lower-profile situation where he could focus on football — and no one would focus on him.

Granted, new Giant Brandon Marshall was an advocate of Smith prior to his losing the Jets' starting quarterback job. And surely the Giants would welcome a young quarterback with an arm and a motivation to work harder than ever to fit in to an organization with more of a winning culture.

But do you remember Manti Te'o, the Notre Dame linebacker whose late girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, turned out to be fake? Of course you do, right? Wondering why you haven't heard about him in a while? Because he plays for the Chargers, who aren't even playing in the same city next season (Los Angeles) as the one in which Te'o was drafted (San Diego).

Smith is not going to be Manning's successor and he might not even play a snap in 2017, so how does this benefit him? Go audition in Jacksonville or Houston or Miami, anywhere that the likelihood of seeing the field is above zero.

Somewhere he can get away from cheap shot jokes about his immaturity as a Jet, somewhere the columnists are above such nonsense … and just play.